NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — At the New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter, she’s known as the “Director Lady with the Heels.”
“I always wear high heels. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. Jumping rope with the kids, I’m wearing my high heels. It could be helping to serve lunch, I’m wearing my high heels.”
She’s the one who keeps the shelter running and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty doing it.
“I help serve food if we are shorthanded, I’ll serve lunch to the residents. Every holiday we do something special for our families, whether that be our Christmas giveaway, our Thanksgiving turkey giveaway and I’m there right alongside my staff.”
She is Dawn Bradley-Fletcher, the CEO of the New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter.
But, being the boss wasn’t her first job at the shelter. She started in 2008 as the shelter manager.
Growing to love her profession, immersing herself in all the people and getting to know everyone by name, it’s no surprise she climbed the ladder fast.
“I started as the shelter manager. I was promoted within a year to the program director. I held that position for a while and then I became the executive director and then I became CEO more recently,” said Bradley-Fletcher.
Over the course of 16 years, Bradley-Fletcher and her team have helped over 4,500 people and hundreds of families. Not shockingly, she has won several awards for her work. Those include the 2019 Force for Good award through NANO and the Top Female Achiever award through New Orleans Magazine in 2023.
Showered with awards, but with a humble heart. Bradley-Fletcher attributes much of her and the shelter’s success to her staff.
“We have staff members who genuinely care about the people they’re serving,” she said.
The goal when anyone steps through the sill of the shelter door is to give hope.
“Thinking about homelessness is not an option. This is your home. It’s temporary, but it’s your home.”
When they leave, Bradley-Fletcher makes sure they become extended family.
“They can come back for services. We still assist them with case management and all of the programming we have here. We’re just doing it from their home. We want to make sure we are there to catch them before they fall,” explained Bradley-Fletcher. “I feel like I was put in this position to carry out our mission and I do that every day, but I have a great team of people who share that same mission.”
Bradley-Fletcher says her shelter has a “return to homeless rate” at less than 2%.
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